Practical Practice Management

Understanding Your Organizations Weaknesses

“Until we realize, identify and are willing to do something to change our organizations weaknesses we will continue to struggle and not advance to the next level of excellence.” ~ T. Totaro

One of the main reasons changes are difficult in organizations is the exact “problem” is hard to pinpoint and identify to know what needs to be changed.

We know that the organization is “ill.” We can see the symptoms that are being manifested by the illness, but how can we diagnose what the disease is and where is it coming from?

Making the diagnosis can be difficult as it takes time and effort to exam the internal processes of the organization. Reviewing protocols, standards and systems to make sure they are producing the desired outcomes or not.

This all takes time, and time is usually the one thing that organizational leaders do not want to spend as they need to keep producing to make a profit.

When I hear employees or employers make the statement “We keep having this same problem over and over.” I wonder why, yet I already know it is because they have not taken the time to fix whatever it is that is causing the recurring issue.

There are five key areas that need to be examined and dissected when trying to discover what the actual illness is and then prescribe what is needed to fix the problem:

Internal Processes

Standardization of Systems

Cycle Times

Employee and Business Protocols

Patient Satisfaction

It takes time to do a thorough examination, but it is worth every minute if you can save the life of your organization. If you do not take the time to do the above, you will continue to put Band-Aids on boo-boos as they appear and never know what is causing them.